


You're here.

by forsty_and_niryda



Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Angst, Anne fights a guy for Phillip, Drama, Emotional everything, F/M, Gun Violence, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Swearing, an emotional family, and phillip falls a little more in love with her, and we made a nurse because someone needed a nurse, he also cries on barnum, we made a villian bc we needed more ANGST
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-10 11:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13500750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forsty_and_niryda/pseuds/forsty_and_niryda
Summary: “Just gonna fetch my coat, and then we’ll head straight home. And then there will be pancakes made by yours truly,” Phillip smiled at her.“Well, don’t leave a girl waiting, go get your coat,”He never returned with his coat.----Back at it again being mean to Phillip and Anne. This time with a healthy dose of comfort and an unhealthy dose of angst and hurt.





	1. It’s an unfair world.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! We're back with another roleplay that was rewritten into a fic!!  
> Once again the art is by the very talented Forsty <3  
> Enjoy!!

 

The heavy atmosphere was hard to miss in the dim lit office. Three men were standing close to the desk, watching the figure by the window. Thaddeus Willford gazed down upon the busy evening street and in the distance; he could see the infamous Circus, P.T Barnum’s Circus. A snarl formed on his lips in disgust and pure jealousy.

Willford was a tall, slender and sharp-looking man. He wore the finest suit a tailor could provide and always accompanied by a cane that had a silver head of a wolverine on the handle. He sighed stiffly and turned to face the three men.

“Travis, Carl, Elliot, you all know what you need to do?” Willford asked and gave his employees a sharp look. The man in the middle, Travis, nodded.

“Yes, Mr. Willford. Sabotage some stuff, steal documents, yeah?” Travis asked and Willford confirmed with a nod.

“Remember, meet me at the southern warehouse when you have finished,” the cold business man finished and turned to gaze out the window again, keeping an icy glare at the red and white striped tents by the docks. The three men nodded and hurried out of the office to do their boss’s evil bidding.

They hurried to the circus, making sure that they were not noticed when sneaking their way around the tent. The three men found their way into the circus tent and from there it was a quick fix as the group split up. Travis, who’d taken the lead, sent Elliot to sabotage whatever he wanted while he and Carl headed for the office-like part of the circus to find documents Mr. Willford had asked for.

“We’re not gonna find anything here, Travis! I bet Mr. Barnum takes the important stuff with him when he leaves,” Carl sounded anxious as he put some folders back in a desk drawer. Travis growled in return out of frustration.

“There’s gotta be something! Keep lookin’!” Travis snarled as he put his frustration into throwing papers around, trying to find the right ones. Being so deep into the shuffling of paper neither of the two men heard the quickly phased steps outside. And it wasn’t before Elliot was standing in the entrance of the tent, out of breath, that they noticed him.

“Guys, someone’s coming!”

  
\---

  
“I’ll just be a minute, I promise,” Phillip Carlyle said softly while slipping an arm around his beloved girlfriend Anne Wheeler. He leaned over to place a kiss to her forehead making her laugh sweetly at the affection she was receiving as she placed her hand over his.

  
“Just gonna fetch my coat, and then we’ll head straight home. And then there will be pancakes made by yours truly,” Phillip added with a smile on his face when earning a kiss to his cheek from Anne. With a sweet smile she easily slid out of Phillip’s arms nodding towards the backdoor exit of the tent.

“Well, don’t leave a girl waiting, go get your coat,” she grinned pleased and only struggled slightly to hide her excitement for the sweet treat that was waiting back in the apartment. Phillip managed to steal one last kiss form Anne before he turned towards the tent they used as an office.

As the ringmaster turned a corner of the circus he stopped dead in his tracks. In front of the office stood two men, both looking at Phillip with dangerous eyes making the young mans heart beat hard in his chest.

“You’re… Not supposed to be back here, it’s only for artis-“ he stopped dead in his sentence as the man to the left pulled out a gun, not even seeming hesitant. He pointed it directly to Phillip who raised his hands slowly up as a reflex.

“ _Travis!_ ” the man to the left of the named Travis gasped. It seemed like it was a shock for the other man as he eyed Travis with slight hesitation and uncertainty. Travis attention was locked at Phillip, a hard stare filled with undeserved hate.

“Listen, there’s… Really no need for that.” He tried to keep calm, despite the beads of sweat rolling down his back in nervousness and anxiety. Phillip looked over at the man behind Travis, first now noticing the documents he was holding and his stomach turned upon realizing it was a robbery.

“You alone?” Travis asked, not replying to Phillip’s attempt to calm the situation down. The man took a step closer to Phillip, bringing the gun closer and forcing the ringmaster to take a nervous step backwards in worry. His mind was racing all over the place, worry if Anne were gonna show up.

“Yes. Yes I’m alone,” he lied, thinking that they would maybe knock him out or leave him alone if they didn’t see him as a threat. The gun pointed at him made him lose focus at everything around him and by the time he forced himself to listen to his surroundings it was too late.  
  
“Hey babe, have you seen my-“ Phillips heart sunk to the bottom of his gut upon hearing Anne’s voice. He looked over his shoulder at her and his eyes widened in fear as a third man emerged behind her. He watched as she took a step back, straight into the mans chest and he could do nothing as he watched the man overpower her.

Anne’s arm was taken by the wrist, twisted and forced up her back. She tried to put up a fight, tried to twist herself out of his grip but as soon as a shiny blade was pressed against her throat she stood still in fear. She could feel the sharpness of the blade press into her throat and it almost made her fear to breathe in case the man were to press it down just a little further.

“Looks like you ain’t alone after all!” The man behind Anne spoke up with a grin on his face, making Phillip sick to his stomach. Anne sought out Phillip’s eyes in hope for some feeling of security or comfort. The fear and panic Phillip saw in Anne’s eyes were enough to break his heart as he watched the ruthless man force her hand even more, making her wince in pain.

“ _Please!_ She has nothing to do with this!” Phillip turned to the gunman again, trying to hide the panic in his eyes. “Just.. Take what you came for and leave. We won’t stop you, you have my word,” he added but the gunman’s expression was set in stone.

“You shouldn’t have lied to me-“ Travis snarled at Phillip. “-I don’t like being lied to.” He said through gritted teeth. His eyes wandered over to Anne and then back to Phillip. The gunman’s upper lip twitched as if he attempted a gruesome smile.

Phillip watched the gun move from him and to his left. It was as if everything happened in slow motion and his legs moved before he could think. With two quick steps he placed his body in front of the gun again, not sure what would happen but he knew it was the way he could keep Anne from harm.

First came the loud sound of a gunshot. It was like the roaring applause after a successful show, it left his ears ringing loudly and made him feel like he was in his own bubble. Then it was like a force hitting him and he felt panicked at the lack of air. As if someone had sucked out all of the air from his lungs and left him breathless. His legs buckled, and he fell to the ground on his knees looking down at his own body. From his left side a dangerously dark stain had started to bleed through his shirt and vest. At first it didn’t hurt, it just felt like a heavy pressure on his abdomen and he moved his hands over to it, covering the wound that made his head feel light.

A scream burst his bubble and it was as if the world was spinning again at a thousand miles an hour. He fell to his side before his back hit the ground. It was first then he took his first gasp of breath and the sound of his surroundings came back suddenly over the ringing. The scream had ended and the faint sound of muffled cries once again made his heart ache.

“Travis what the **fuck?!** ” the man behind Anne hissed, looking from Phillip and over to Travis. His hand was well planted over Anne’s mouth after her heartbreaking scream after seeing her beloved partner being shot. Tears was falling and her pleads and screams to let her go was muffled along with the cries she hoped Phillip would respond to as the pool of blood grew around him.

“It was his own damn fault! Let's just... Leave him, and take her to the southern warehouse.” Travis hissed and sent the three of them into a bickering of arguments and hissing whispers at each other. The panic clear in all of them. This was not the plan, no one was supposed to be shot or hurt.

Anne’s eyes were locked on Phillip, her whole body was shaking in shock. Her heart racing faster and faster in her chest until she felt it was about to explode. And so it did. With a quick movement Anne lifted her foot and with all the power and strength she had in her body she slammed the heel of her shoe into her assaulter’s foot. A loud and pained yell came from the man and in his moment of confusion and pain Anne landed another blow to the man by doing an honorable attempt of headbutting him. Not nearly enough to break any jaws or teeth, but it was more than enough for freedom and a bloody nose.

  
Within seconds she was by Phillip’s side. There was no plan to this, she only knew she needed to be by his side even if it would get her shot too. Both of her hands went over Phillip’s wound, not having a single idea what she was doing. Her eyes met Phillip’s and it was her turn to have her heart broken from the fear and pain in his eyes.

“Hey-hey, it’s gonna be fine. You’re gonna be ok, Phillip. You hear me? I love you so much, Phillip. It’s all ok, s-someone will come and help!” Her voice was shaking along with her trembling hands. The tears fell freely as the blood stained her hands. One of Phillip’s hands joined hers, grounding himself as he seemed to struggle to stay conscious.

“I love you too… It’s gonna be o-ok,” he spoke so softly, as if his voice was too fragile to be raised. Even after being shot his first concern was to comfort Anne. He watched her face as it turned from heartbreak and worry to panic and fear. Suddenly the safety of her hands were gone and Phillip felt oddly cold.

“Nonono! He will _die!_ He needs medical attention, _please!_ ” she cried out as she felt a strong hand grip around her arm. She tried to stay, she fought to keep the pressure onto Phillips wound but it was a match lost when a second pair of hands wrapped around her other arm and they both pulled her away. She could do nothing as the two grown men dragged her away other than to call for Phillip. She twisted and turned, kicked and tried to pull her arms back from the men but their iron grip was strong enough to leave bruises.

  
She heard a faint “Wait, don’t-“ and watched as Phillip tried to roll over to his side and crawl after them only to get a kick to his shoulder and fall to his back again. By now Anne was frantically trying to get out of the grip as she watched Phillip drift away.

“Sorry, doll. It’s an unfair world.” The previous gunman answered as he and the other man pulled her off the ground.

“You sons of bitches! Let me go! I _swear_ I will fuckin-“ a sharp pain exploded in the back of her head and she lost her speech. Every limb of her body grew heavy and she could only watch as Phillip’s eyes shut for what she feared might have been the last time. The pool of blood was growing around him and she could follow the steady rise and fall of Phillip’s chest grow slower and slower as her own world went darker. A last attempt of crying out to him was made, but it merely sounded like a mouse squeaking.

And so the world went black for Anne Wheeler.


	2. I'll stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 8)) o noo what will happen oh gosh

 

The echo of a gunshot bounced off the walls, all the way from the docs to the edge of the town. Barnum had just left another one of his girl’s very successful ballet performance, and the promise of ice cream had taken their walk to a special little place on the outside of the busy streets. As soon as the sound hit him he stopped up in his tracks. His eyes wandered towards where he knew the circus was and he could have sworn it was the same directions as the sound of the gunshot.  
  
An uneasy feeling settled with him and he looked between Charity and his two daughters. Charity met his gaze with her own look of worry, while the girls mostly seemed worried for their ice cream date.  
  
“Was that…?” Charity almost seemed scared to finish the sentence, knowing well enough that the thought was troubling her husband too.  
  
“It came from the circus,” Barnum said as anxiety spread through his body. Even if the circus had been passed on to capable hands he still cared very much for it, especially the friends he had grown so close to through the years.  
  
“I… I have to go and see. Charity, I’m sorr-“  
  
“Go! Right now! Make sure everyone is okay!” Charity interrupted her husband before he could even finish his apology. The anxiety and worry that someone might be hurt at the circus was one she too shared with Barnum.  
  
The former ringmaster couldn’t help but smile relieved at his wife, giving her cheek a kiss along with a kiss to each of his daughter’s heads, before he started the run towards the circus. The wind blew cold against his skin but the sickening feeling that something was horribly _wrong_ made him pay no attention to the cold or his heart beating faster and faster.

 

  
  
It took him a good ten minutes to arrive to the circus after he heard the gunshot. At first glance nothing seemed wrong. The tent was still standing proud, nothing was burning and there was no hysteria or screaming. In fact, no one was around. He slowed down his phase as he started to walk around the outside of the circus. Maybe the sound had come from one of the nearby factories, or maybe something big had just fallen over in the circus. With every made up excuse for the gunshot he could feel his worry bleed away.  
  
But it was just another false sense of security.  
  
As he rounded another corner of the tent a horrific scene came to view. Panic flared up in him as fire in dry grass and he almost felt lightheaded for a second. He was in shock. Phillip was laying on the ground, face down and limbs in awkward positions. His shirt and vest were both colored in a dangerously dark red and the hard contrast between the blood and Phillip’s pale skin made Barnum sick to his stomach.  
  
He found his power to move his legs and within seconds he was kneeling beside Phillip.

“Phillip! Come on, son. You have to stay with me, now,” Barnum could feel his own panic choke him. He quickly turned his friend over and placed both of his hands over the wound to keep a pressure on it. The pool of blood on the ground made his stomach turn and he tried his best to not fear the worst outcome.  
  
As soon as his hands were pressed against Phillips wound the man awoke with a gasp for air and weak hands grabbed at Barnum’s sleeve. Phillips eyes were glossy and he looked around, as if he struggled to focus on everything. But even the sign of life from Phillip made Barnum let go of a breath he didn’t even know he was holding.  
  
“Phineas, they took her. They took Anne! I-I couldn’t stop them…” Phillip screwed his eyes shut after the confession, as if it was his fault that she was taken. The pain and guilt fogged his mind, but not foggy enough to make him not hear Anne’s screams and pleads to let her go. It still rung in his ears.  
  
Barnum looked at the wounded man as he spoke. The trail of blood leaving Phillip told the story of how Anne had resisted and fought her captors. The fear draped over him like a suffocating blanket leaving him almost incapable of holding a thought.  
  
It was Phillip who brought him out of the spiral of doom as the younger man spoke. “We have to save her, Phineas. We… We have to go after her!” Phillip pulled at Barnum’s sleeve and with the strength equal to a kitten he tried his best to sit up. Not that Barnum allowed it, it was like pushing over a pile of paper and Phillip’s back hit the ground again.  
  
“Barnum? What are yo- _oh my god!”_ The familiar voice of Lettie appeared behind Barnum and a wave of relief washed over him, now knowing he was no longer alone. He glanced over his shoulder looking at the singer. Her hands were covering her mouth and she looked terrified as she took in the horror of the scene.  
  
“Go! Fetch the others, I need W.D to help me carry him. And have Constantine get Dr. Hart! He knows where she lives,” he spoke over his shoulder to her before turning his attention back to Phillip who seemed to have very little awareness of what was going on around him. Barnum could hear Lettie’s steps run towards the other circus artists tents and once again the two men were left in silence.  
  
“Help is on it’s way, son. You just hold on, you hear me?” he spoke quietly to Phillip. Not sure if it was an attempt at calming himself or Phillip down. He watched as Phillips hands grew limp and fell back on the ground, his eyes became more unfocused before they shut completely. At first Barnum was sure the young man passed away, but the steady rise and fall of his chest kept the thoughts away.

 

  
It felt like hours since Lettie had been here. His thought’s were drowning him, making his head spinning and Barnum almost felt lightheaded. It was as if someone had pulled away the very ground he was kneeling on and he could feel his breath fasten, heart racing and chest getting tighter with every second passing.  
  
Steps behind him made him even more uneasy but as soon as W.D and Lettie came to sight he could feel the relief. His breath slowed and just managing to avoid the panic attack he was about to have if his friends hadn’t showed up.  
  
“What the hell is going on?!” W.D spoke first, looking at the scene before kneeling next to Barnum and Phillip. He looked at the wounded man with horrified eyes and his stomach turned at the amount of blood around Phillip.  
  
“Gunshot. I don’t know why, or how or… We need to get him somewhere. He can’t just… lay on the ground,” Barnum forced the lump in his throat down. It was torture seeing Phillip so lifeless on the ground. Barnum was too used seeing his friend joyfully standing in the circus ring bringing so much _life_ and _joy_ to the crowd and his friends.  
  
“Mr. Barnum… Where’s Anne?” W.D’s voice brought Barnum out of his thoughts. The acrobat’s eyes were locked on the blood smeared away from Phillip and the further signs of a struggle. Anxiety and fear took a grip around W.D as he searched the surroundings only to confirm that it was only the four of them there. His heart was pounding hard as he looked over at Barnum and met the almost apologizing look from his old friend.  
  
“We are going to get her back, W.D. **I swear**. We are going to go after her, but we need Phillip safe first. He can tell us who and where they took her, W.D. You gotta stay here. You can’t run off, they could try to kill you as well,” Barnum almost sounded desperate, knowing how much his friend wanted to run and find Anne. He grabbed hold of W.D sleeve as by the looks of it he was about to pass out. “Stay with me, son.”  
  
W.D could feel the world cave in around him. Anne was gone. She had been taken, by someone unknown. He could feel and hear his heartbeat quicken and chest get tight. The feeling of being helpless and guilty was overwhelming. If he’d only stayed with her none of this would have happened. Phillip wouldn’t have been shot and Anne would have been here. He struggled to hold a single thought, everything was foggy and he felt numb. How was he going to get Anne back? Was Anne even still alive? Was she hurt? Scared? Cold?  
  
“W.D! You stay with me now!” Barnum’s voice and grip to his arm broke the fog and the circus artist looked at his friend with fear and worry. He regained his senses back again slowly and nodded once as a response. It still took him a moment before finding his voice and the strength to talk without sounding as if he were on the verge of tears or hysteria.  
  
“I’m here. Let’s move him,” Barnum watched as W.D’s breathing slowed down from panicked to a unsettling state of calm.  
  
“Bring him back to my tent! It’s the closest one,” Lettie spoke up now, gaining both of the men’s attention. They both looked over to where she was pointing, barely a minutes’ walk away stood the tent and Barnum gave her a nod to agree to the plan.  
  
“We lift him on three. One, two, three!” as Barnum counted down they both got an arm around Phillip’s waist and with just a little struggle the two of them lifted the man of the ground. Both of Phillip’s arms went around each of W.D and Barnum’s necks and the walk towards the tent began.  
  
Lettie lead the way to her quarters. The walk seeming so much further and tedious than before and by the time they arrived at the tent it felt like hours of worry had passed. Lettie pushed the cloth to the entrance of the tent aside, letting the three of them enter the colorful and bright tent.  
  
“Put him on the bed!” With a swift motion Lettie pulled the pillows and extra blankets off the bed, making it clear for them. Barnum lead them over to the bed and without much further complications Phillip was laid down on the bed.  
  
“Go and see if Constantine has returned with Dr. Hart. They have no idea we’re in here,” Barnum said to W.D, giving the man something to do to work on his obvious anxiety off. He watched as the man ran out of the tent again, leaving himself and Lettie with Phillip.  
  
“Here, take this to his wound for now,” Lettie offered Barnum a cloth which the older man gladly accepted to keep as pressure to the wound. He could only watch as Lettie’s light blue sheets turned dark red. The only think keeping him certain that Phillip was still alive was the steady rise and fall of his chest one again.  
  
“It’s going to be okay, son. We’ll get you back on your feet in no time. Grace will help, and you’ll be better than new,” Barnum spoke low as if attempting to comfort his unconscious friend, but gained no response from him.

 

  
  
It felt like an eternity had passed before they heard voices coming from outside. Lettie was quickly on her feet to open the entrance for the three of them.  
  
Grace Hart, a shorter woman with dark, thick hair and a natural tan to her skin, was the first one to enter. W.D and Constantine followed right after her, all of them slightly out of breath from having run through the city. It didn’t take Grace a second before she was by Phillip’s side next to Barnum. Looking between Phillip’s pale face and the bloody hands Barnum was covering the wound with.  
“I need his shirt and west off, now! I need to see the wound.” She spoke as she placed her medical bag on the bedside table. Out of it she pulled a bottle of something, washing her hands thoroughly. By the time she returned to Phillips side the shirt and west was gone.  
  
“Who the hell shot him?! Y’know what, never mind. Help me turn him to his side. I need to see if the bullet went through or not,” she looked at Barnum first, seeing the relief in his eyes that someone was taking control and actually knowing what they were doing. She gave him a reassuring smile before looking over at Constantine, nodding for him to come over and help too. As soon as Phillip was rolled over to his side by the two men Grace bent down, looking at the exit wound with surprise.  
  
“Holy smokes, it went straight through!” She signaled for the boys to put him down only to be greeted by a pair of blue eyes looking back at her. At first it left her in shock, thinking that Phillip would be knocked out into next week after the trauma, but apparently the boy had other plans.  
  
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” she teased him slightly and smiled at him. “Don’t you worry, we’ll fix you up in no time,” Grace attempted to comfort him. Barnum anxiously stretched out his arm to take Phillip’s hand, giving the boy some sense of grounding and comfort.  
  
“Hey Grace…” Phillip answered, almost sounding a little hoarse now. He managed a weak smile as his grip tightened around Barnum’s hand. The younger man seemed to relax just by Grace’s presence, knowing very well how skilled the doctor was so he had no doubt that this would go just fine.  
  
His eyes wandered around the room and the moment they landed on W.D guilt swelled in his chest enough to almost make him choke. Phillip gripped harder around Barnum’s hand, pulling his friend closer.  
  
“Phineas, you have to go and save her,” Phillip’ss words were low and a little slurred but the intense look he gave Barnum was everything but weak. “Those who took her, they… There were three of them. I think they stole something, like documents. I’m not sure,” he stopped himself, took a sharp inhale and screwed his eyes shut for a moment to regain some strength.  
  
“They… They said something… About a warehouse, in the south? I-I can’t remember, but we have to save her!” Phillip said with determination as he tried to sit up with all the strength he could gather. However, he was quickly, and gently, pushed back down into the bed again by the people surrounding him. Even Constantine made an effort to make sure Phillip remained where he was, earning a look from the ringmaster.  
  
“Me and W.D will get her back, Phillip. I promise, next time you wake up Anne will be right here by your side,” Constantine spoke up with a soft smile, trying to give Phillip whatever comfort he could offer. Even if he knew he shouldn’t give promises like he had just given Phillip, he couldn’t help it. His friend was in pain and he could see the guilt eating him up. Anything was better than this.  
  
Phillip watched them all stand around his bed and the grip around Barnum’s hand became tighter as he could feel himself drift away. “Please, I can’t lose her again.” Was the last muttered words from the ringmaster before his vision went black once more. Falling into an unconscious and dreamless sleep.  
  
Barnum held Phillips hand until it went limp and then gently placed it back on the mattress. There was a nausea building up with the anger in his gut. The new information to where Anne might be made his upper lip twitch slightly. It was a stretch, but none of the townsfolks would go this far as to actually kidnap and shoot a member of the circus, even if everyone were an outcast it was still a crime to kidnap and shoot people. With the townsfolks ruled out and the location being the old warehouse south of the circus there really was but one option left.

 

  
  
“Time to work,” Grace stepped in front of Barnum, giving him a look as to say ‘please move’. “Lettie would you be so kind?” the doctor nodded towards the medical bag and looked at Lettie who gave her a nod. After giving W.D’s shoulder a gentle squeeze she walked to join by Grace’s side, helping her in any way she could.  
  
“Barnum?” Constantine placed his hand on the man’s shoulder, leading him away from Phillip’s bedside to leave Grace to working without having to have people hanging over her shoulder. W.D followed along after Barnum and Constantine.  
  
“What… Do you know?” Constantine asked. He was a bright minded man and had easily picked up on Barnum’s ever-growing spiral of thought. The frown grew deeper on Barnum’s face as he looked at the tattooed man. How much could he tell them? He didn’t want to put them in any more danger than asking them to go and get Anne.  
  
“The warehouse is indeed south of here. It’s the old soap factory. Shut down years ago,” He said with confidence and crossed his arms. He knew the owner of the abandoned factory and just the thought of his name left a foul taste in Barnum’s mouth. _Thaddeus Willford_. He could feel his blood start to boil thinking how the man could dare to do this. Barnum took a sharp inhale and a moment to collect himself before he spoke again.  
  
“Listen. We go straight in, get Anne and straight out again. No one is playing heroes tonight, no one starts a fight or anything… Just… Get in and get out, and then back here with Anne. Okay?” he looked between his friends with a rather serious look, not wanting to say more than needed. The feud between him and Willford was his burden to bear and enough damage had been done for now. He just hoped that there would be no more.  
  
Constantine and W.D nodded, not asking questions. Even if both of them could feel that Barnum was holding _something_ back their priority was Anne, not digging into Barnum’s personal life story.  
  
“Mr. Barnum, could I ask you to stay here and help with Phillip? I’d understand if you have to join Constantine and W.D, but I think a familiar face could help him if he woke up in an erratic state,” Grace looked over her shoulder at Barnum, somewhat apologetic. She knew he wanted to go, but she also felt unsafe staying here alone. The thought of the men coming back to finish the job frightened her. And even worse if Phillip woke up with a blank mind, ready to hurt someone thinking he still was in the fight.  
  
Barnum glanced first over at Grace, then Phillip’s pale face before his eyes wandered back to Constantine and W.D. “We will be fine, Barnum. We’ve had our fair share of fights before.” Constantine said with a reassuring smile as he reached over to pat Barnum’s shoulder. The former ringmaster nodded once, agreeing to the decision that was taken before looking back to Grace.  
  
“I’ll stay.”  
  
And with that as final words Constantine and W.D did a farewell salute before they jogged out of the tent and into the night. W.D’s blood was boiling with rage directed towards the cowards who had dared to take his sister. But at the same time there was an uncertainty and sickening worry in his stomach.  
  
What if the worst had already happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you dont hate us too much find us at:  
> Niryda - [TGS blog!](https://the-circus-princess.tumblr.com/)  
> Forsty - [TGS blog!](https://circusprince.tumblr.com/)
> 
> cya next chapter >:))))
> 
> Thaddeus Willford [(fc)](http://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/M-310_D6-1387_CR_rgb.jpg) and Grace Hart [(fc)](https://image.prntscr.com/image/ZKhAC8ASQY_bhvt6dKXUtQ.png) are both original characters, and so is Travis, Carl and Elliot!

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry not sorry to end on a cliffhanger!!!  
> Find us at:  
> Niryda - [TGS blog!](https://the-circus-princess.tumblr.com/)  
> Forsty - [TGS blog!](https://circusprince.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Thaddeus Willford and Grace Hart are both original characters, and so is Travis, Carl and Elliot.


End file.
